Americans can agree that one thing Trump has done is good

Donald Trump. Spencer Platt/Getty Images Americans overwhelmingly agree that one thing President Donald Trump has done is good — his recent deal with Democratic leadership.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday found that 71% of Americans support his deal with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi from earlier this month, while just 8% of respondents said they disapprove of the deal.

"Going to the middle has helped him with the middle — without costing him much from his own base," Democratic pollster Fred Yang — one of two pollsters conducting the NBC/WSJ poll — said.

The trio struck a deal earlier this month to add a three-month suspension of the federal debt ceiling and a continuing resolution to fund the government through early December to a bill that would also include money for Hurricane Harvey relief. That agreement, which was reached during a White House meeting with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders, flew in the face of what House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell were advocating.

Building off the positive reaction to the deal, Trump made more efforts at bipartisanship, inviting Schumer and Pelosi back to the White House the following week to discuss immigration, infrastructure, trade, and tax reform.

Americans' approval of the debt ceiling deal was significantly higher than it was for Trump's handling of any other issue polled. Trump's second-highest marks were for his handling of the economy, which 41% of Americans approved of while 36% disapproved. Every other issue polled found Trump to be underwater with Americans.

Among Republican respondents, just 6% said Trump was too willing to work with Democrats. A whopping 88% said he was either not willing enough or had shown the proper amount of willingness to work across the aisle. When respondents who identified as "conservative" were asked, just 5% said Trump was too willing to work with Democrats. On the other hand, 87% of conservative respondents said he either showed the proper amount of willingness or should be more willing.

"Most of the president's supporters reject the criticism that he is caving on core principles and they accept Trump's assertion that he has to turn to Democrats if the GOP leadership keeps failing him," Monmouth University Polling Institute director Patrick Murray said.

The NBC/WSJ poll was one of a few recent surveys that found Trump's overall approval rating to be on the rise following his bipartisan efforts.

The poll was conducted between September 14 and 18. The pollsters surveyed 900 adults, and the margin of error was 3.3 percentage points.